


Midnight Whispers

by whamelie



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fairy Tail Angst, Flashbacks, Nalu - Freeform, Natsu angst, Natsu is Scared, Nightmares, PTSD, Protective Natsu Dragneel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:15:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24036472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whamelie/pseuds/whamelie
Summary: Lucy was more than used to waking up in the night.Loud party boats passing by her house during the later hours, the sounds of clattering from the kitchen when Happy attempted to find himself a snack, or sometimes simply a stray floorboard creaking. Twittering birds outside her window, noises from the neighbours houses on either side. The list could have gone on for a while.However, one night, Lucy is woken up by something rather different.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 17
Kudos: 166





	Midnight Whispers

Lucy was more than used to waking up in the night.

Loud party boats passing by her house during the later hours, the sounds of clattering from the kitchen when Happy attempted to find himself a snack, or sometimes simply a stray floorboard creaking. Twittering birds outside her window, noises from the neighbours houses on either side. The list could have gone on for a while.

She was never particularly bothered though. Lingering too much was a waste of time in her eyes, so whenever her rest was disturbed, she on most occasions went straight back to sleep. On top of that, the brief noise was more often than not, nothing of interest or particular concern. Lucy would much rather get back to her well earned rest than waste time by staying up and thinking about it.

A pattern of shrugging things off and getting back to sleep had developed across the years of her life. It dated all the way back to her days spent in the Heartfilia mansion. 

Lucy didn't much mind that her childhood habit had ran through to current day, as it certainly helped he get enough sleep. Those from Fairytail were a rowdy bunch, and she needed all the energy she could get to stay sane. 

Yet... despite the years of repeated practice of going almost immediately back to sleep... one night, that didn't happen.

As she was slowly dragged back into reality - out of the dreamscapes of her subconscious - the celestial mage quickly realised that this was not a normal waking. She was not alone in her bed.

As usual, a certain somebody had snuck in along with her, despite her repeated orders to sleep elsewhere. 

Natsu. 

Though, unlike the usual, he wasn't sprawled across the mattress, taking up most of the space. He wasn't hogging the blanket. He wasn't accidentally kicking her off, or laying on her hair, or snoring or sleep-talking or any of the irritating behaviours he had exhibited in the past.

He was... hugging her.

No, not hugging... more like, clinging to her. 

Holding her tightly, holding her close - desperate and protective - with no clear plan to let go.

Natsu had his arm tightly wrapped around her waist, with his head nuzzled into the back of her neck. His warm breath danced across her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

Lucy's immediate reaction would be to sit up and smack him around the head, and yell at him for once again invading her personal space, but, she caught herself. He had most likely moved into this position in his sleep, without any purposeful motive behind the actions. 

While she wasn't very happy that he'd miraculously appeared in her covers again, it wasn't as if she was particularly strict about it. 

How could she slap him awake when he himself would most likely wake up just as confused as her? She felt bad, treating him cruelly for a subconscious action which was far out of his control. 

Instead, Lucy settled for a much more sympathetic route, and readied herself to move into a better position to shake him awake.

Though...

That's when it happened.

Suddenly, no warning. No clues in the upcoming seconds. Instantaneous, and so incredibly jarring yet... so missable. 

The first little shiver, that she had been awake to feel at any rate. 

A small jolt, followed by a muffled whimper, and Natsu's arm around her tightened slightly.

He... was he...

Crying?

Lucy was a little too shocked to do anything. Her sureness that this entire situation was nought but an accident disappeared into the cold night air, as Natsu's sobbing slowly got more and more frequent. Seeing him upset was a rare occasion - let alone seeing him actually cry - yet, here he was, latched onto Lucy like a vice, as if he was terrified of letting go. Crying. 

She had absolutely no idea of what to do. Was he awake? Was he asleep? Was this just some stupid joke that he and Happy had coordinated? 

It couldn't be. Their senses of humour were questionable at times, but she was certain that they would never go as far to feign true upset, for the sake of a sick prank.

This... this was real. 

Lucy could hear the authenticity.

After a few more moments of close attention, it seemed that he was trying extremely hard to reduce the sounds he was producing. Lucy quickly deduced that he was indeed awake.

Awake, and crying, and embracing her like it was the last thing he'd ever do.

She... she didn't... know... what to do.

Should she say something? Surely laying here, pretending to still be asleep, would almost be eavesdropping? Invading his moment of weakness when he clearly thought he was alone, at least consciously. 

It was pretty odd to wonder about that, considering he was the one in Lucy's bed. 

Then again, maybe revealing that she'd been awake for a while now would make the situation worse.

Embarrassing him was not something on Lucy's to-do list.

Amongst the panic of what or not to do, trying to make sense of her thoughts, and also trying so incredibly hard to think of why her friend was so distressed in that moment... a decision finally set in.

Lucy just... lay there. Still, breathing steadily, calm. Listening intently.

She focussed in on him, paying close attention to every detail of the events unfolding right next to her. The way that he was trying to keep his mouth closed to muffle the sounds, but kept having to take deep breaths because of it. 

The way that he'd managed to hug so much of her at once, with an arm around her torso, but also lower down. Their legs had become partially entwined. He was as close to her as he could have possibly been. 

The way that his whimpering sounded.

It wasn't your regular sadness. Lucy had heard enough of it across her life to recognise it from, other similar emotions.

No. Natsu was not just 'sad'.

He wasn't angry, he wasn't frustrated, he wasn't annoyed and he wasn't just sad.

He was terrified.

Absolutely, positively, paralysed in fear. 

Unable to do anything other than sob as quietly as he could, and keep Lucy close to him.

Lucy was still confused. Every question that got answered, lead to another set of questions demanding to be solved.

All she knew, was that Natsu was going through some heavy stuff, for reasons unknown, and, her being there next to him, was giving him at least a small bit of relief, and solidarity amongst his troubles. 

She couldn't bring herself to take that away from him.

If she revealed her conscious state, how did she know that Natsu wouldn't immediately leave, and do all he could to hide what had happened that night?

So many unsure ideas. 

No clear way to answer them.

What felt like hours passed. Natsu had managed to bring himself to a much calmer state, but it was still upsettingly clear that... well... he was still scared.

He hadn't let go of Lucy even for a second. He held her close, his lips almost brushing the back of her neck, sending strange shivers across her body every time he exhaled.

He was... shaking. 

The twittering of morning birds began to interrupt the peaceful silence of the morning, marking an end to the night, and the beginning of a new day. Beams of light snuck through the gaps in the curtains, blessing the room with an early morning glow. 

Lucy's thoughts started to complicate themselves once more. What would he do now?

Would this really carry on until she made a move? 

In that case, it would undoubtedly carry on late into the day. She didn't have the guts to do anything, to move, to even breathe too deeply. He'd have to do something himself.

Low and behold... he did. 

After a particularly loud round of singing from the songbirds, he made his move.

Natsu gave her one last warm, shaky squeeze, then with utmost care, withdrew his arm from around her body. He turned around, and settled in place on the other side of the bed.

Both of them stayed motionless after that, completely still. Unmoving. Quiet. A sweeping solitary feeling washing over them, despite only being inches away from each other.

Lucy already felt cold. 

More light filtered through to the room by the second, bathing it in the fresh blue of a clear morning. She could tell it was going to be a lovely fresh day, weather-wise. 

Natsu didn't drift into sleep. Lucy could tell he was still awake by the shallowness of his breath, and the way that he kept violently shivering. Still awake, since some unknown time deep into the night.

He was going to be exhausted.

She gritted her teeth, her thoughts flitting back and fourth repeatedly until she forced herself to yawn, and stretch her arms, feigning an awakening. She put on her very best act, desperate to make sure that Natsu didn't become suspicious.

Lucy sat up, rubbing her eyes despite then being completely clear, and, as she would every other morning, looked over to Natsu. 

She could tell that he was on edge. The distinct aura of awareness came from him.

What to do? Truth be told, had the events of the night not happened, she most likely would have woken up and kicked him out of the covers. A pang of guilt punctured her heart as she came to terms with it... maybe, she hadn't been especially kind to him in that respect. 

He had always seen fine in the past, grinning his head off and excitedly bidding her good morning as soon as he stood up from the floorboards. Had he just been pretending? Were his feeling hurt every time she booted him off? 

It was hard to do, as while Lucy knew that any abnormal behaviour would lead to confusion on his side, she wanted nothing more than to gently wake him up and ask if he was ok.

He'd instantly know if she did that, however, so she cleared her throat.

"... N... Natsu?! What are you doing in my bed?!" she exclaimed, gently pushing him with the palm of her hand. Enough to dislodge his position, but not enough to send him tumbling onto the floor.

Her voice was croaky after not speaking at all overnight, but Natsu heard it without trouble.

He chuckled, and sat up, then stood up.

When he turned to face her, he had a beaming smile pressed into his cheeks, and he gave her a cheeky look.

"Your bed is the more comfortable though Luuuuuce!"

Lucy was lost for words. He... really was an exceptional actor. 

Everything, absolutely everything was a perfect façade. His posture was springy and awake, his smile looked genuine, even his reasoning was feasible. 

The one giveaway was his eyes. 

They were inflamed... red and raw from crying for hours on end. His lashes were still damp and wet from them, and as Lucy stared straight into his pupils... all she could see was fear. Fear, sadness, crippling anxiety that had finally made itself aware to her.

Lucy yawned again, the exhaustion settling in, and she looked away.

She didn’t know how to deal with this.


End file.
